The Washington Capitals overhauled their defence, by paying huge money to a pair of former Pittsburgh Penguins. Julian Edelman Youth Jersey . Numbers Game breaks down the signings of Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik. The Capitals Get: D Matt Niskanen and D Brooks Orpik. Niskanen, 27, picked a terrific time to have the best year of his career, scoring a career-best 10 goals and 46 points while playing a career-high 21:18 per game. He was also a career-best plus-33, which is all well and good, but he was one of six regular defencemen (minimum 62 games played) to have a combined on-ice save percentage and on-ice shooting percentage (PDO) at 5-on-5 of 103.0 or better. An on-ice shooting percentage over 10.0% is difficult for any defenceman to sustain, but Niskanens 10.32% was the third-best of his career; basically, its the kind of good fortune that shouldnt be expected, but its not out of the realm of possibility from season to season for Niskanen. Where the puck luck really stuck with Niskanen last year, was that he also had a .928 on-ice save percentage during 5-on-5 play, so getting favourable percentages at both ends of the ice during the same year contributed to that strong plus-minus. That shouldnt diminish the evaluation of Niskanen entirely, though, because he has consistently been on the right side of the puck possession ledger, and that makes him an asset to any team that acquires him. While Niskanen hasnt typically played hard minutes, and in some years has been excessively sheltered, hes likely to face more difficult matchups now that hes the highest-priced defenceman on the Capitals roster. Signed for seven years and $40.25-million, Niskanen landed the biggest free agent contract of the year. There was probably an element of paying for the good fortune that Niskanen experienced last year, and it is a gamble that Niskanen is going to be able to live up to the money involved in that contract, but if a team is going to swing for the fences on a free agent defenceman, doing so on a guy with consistently strong possession numbers is at least a reasonable foundation on which to make that investment. Which brings us to Brooks Orpik, a 33-year-old who has made his bones as a physical, hard-hitting defenceman, registering more than 200 hits in five of the past seven seasons. The unfortunate part, however, is that Orpik in position to hit so much -- particularly in recent years -- because his team doesnt have the puck as often when hes on the ice and the problem with a defensive defenceman who is already on the wrong end of the possession game is that hes certainly not likely to get better as he gets older. For example, in the 2013-2014 season, there were seven defencemen that were over 35 and scored fewer than 20 points (as Orpik has in every season of his career, except one). Its an okay list, some useful players, but six of the seven were 35 or 36. Orpik is signed through his age 38 season and the only -- the only -- NHL defenceman that played more than 60 games without scoring more than 20 points last season was Tampa Bays Sami Salo, who has never played the kind of physical, banging style that characterizes Orpiks game, in part because Salo was always hurt anyway. This doesnt offer much encouragement that the Capitals wont have massive regrets about the Orpik signing; the only question is how soon will those regrets occur? Can he give the Capitals a couple of solid years, maybe facing lower-calibre of competition than he did in Pittsburgh? Thats probably the best hope, but its a longshot that the last two, maybe even three years, wont have the Capitals paying big money for a spare part on their blueline. Orpik is signed for five years, at a cap hit of $5.5-million per season. Big money, long term. Pittsburgh anticipated that they would lose both Niskanen and Orpik and, in addition to having an opening or two for some prospects, they also signed Christian Ehrhoff to add stability to their defence. Its entirely understandable for the Capitals to make a move to upgrade their defence. They allowed 33.5 shots per game, ranking 27th in the league, last season, so the defence needed to get better. Ultimately, the Capitals are better today after adding Niskanen and Orpik, but that should never be up for debate when committing close to $11-million annually to two players. What has to matter is how much better they are, whether the money spent is worth it and what the fall-out will be. The Capitals dont have to make any moves --- they are under the $69-million salary cap -- but they have $28,762,500 committed to their defence, according to Cap Geek. The only teams spending in that neighbourhood for their defence are Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, who have Chris Pronger and Mattias Ohlund, respectively, on long-term injured reserve. St. Louis and Chicago are spending in the $24-million-to-$25-million on their respective bluelines right now, so its hard to imagine that the Capitals maintain the status quo, leaving a hole at second line centre while sticking with the most expensive defence corps in the league. We will see what other moves the Capitals have in mind this summer but, right now, it appears that they spent a lot of money to get better in the short-term; signing deals that appear to have more downside risk because of the long terms involved. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. John Hannah Jersey . Last year, Matt Kuchar closed with a 4-under 68 to beat Kevin Chappell by two strokes for his second win of the 2013 season and sixth of his career. Julian Edelman Jersey . Jeff Carter had two goals and an assist as the Kings stretched their streak to seven wins in a row with a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. http://www.shoptheofficialpatriots.com/Elite-Stephon-Gilmore-Patriots-Jersey/ . On Wednesday night, they showed that stellar defence and a little small ball can get the job done too. With pinch-runner Kevin Pillar aboard after Dioner Navarro opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, Anthony Gose dropped down an excellent bunt along the first-base line.Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - There are not many matchups in which the betting line is affected by a single game, but that is what has taken place in the Outback Bowl between Wisconsin and Auburn. Wisconsin met Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game on Dec. 6 and the Badgers were favored by four points due to Cardale Jones starting at quarterback for the Buckeyes in place of the injured J.T. Barrett. The Badgers came into the contest on a seven-game winning streak, but the Buckeyes dominated from start to finish in a 59-0 rout. Now, instead of getting around a field goal from Auburn, the Badgers are underdogs by a touchdown. Another reason the line is higher than it should be comes from what has taken place on the sidelines as Wisconsin is without head coach Gary Andersen, who moved on to Oregon State. Barry Alvarez will be the interim coach for the second time in three years. However, Auburn has coaching issues as well due to the firing of defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson. Charlie Harbison takes over on an interim basis for Will Muschamp, who cant be added to the coaching staff for this contest. Wisconsin is somewhat used to playing teams from the SEC as the Badgers have done so twice in the last 365 days. In the first game of this season, they held a 24-7 lead over LSU early in the third quarter only to lose 28-24 with Tanner McEvoy throwing an interception leading to the winning score. The previous game was in last years bowl game against South Carolina. Wisconsin, trailing by 10 points in the fourth quarter, had plenty of chances to cut the deficit to three, but three turnovers, including two inside the red zone, thwarted all attempts. Outside of that contest, the Badgers have lost by more than a touchdown against non-conference opponents just one time in over 10 years. Auburn is 0-3 ATS in its last three FBS games and just 2-7 ATS in its last nine contests. The Tigers are 0-3 ATS when favored between six and eight points against a non-conference Power 5 squad. Furthermore, they have not won an FBS game by more than seven since Oct. 4. Gus Malzahns crew should put up points against Wisconsins defense, but not having Dhaquille Williams in the lineup will hurt as the junior led the Tigers in receptions. Williams caught seven passes for 121 yards in Auburns last game against Alabama. Wisconsin also will score against a suspect Auburn defense, one which allowed just as many points in its last game as the Badgers did. In fact, the Tigers have given up 30 points or more in six consecutive FBS games. Expect a close contest in the Outback Bowl as Auburn should be favored by less than a field goal. Take Wisconsin plus seven points in this weeks lone five-star play. ANOTHER BIG TEN TEAM TO COVER ON NEW YEARS DAY Missouri takes on Minnesota in another SEC-Big Ten battle. The Tigers are similar to Wisconsin in that they came into their conference title game on a huge winning streak but were obliterated by their opponent. Still, even though Missouri had won six straight before losing to Alabama, most of the victories were not that impressive. The Tigers began the streak with what looked on paper as a huge win over Florida. The final score was 42-13, but they gained only 119 total yards in the win and Maty Mauk threw for just 20 yards on 6-for-18 passing with one interception. That was followed by five wins over five of the six teams with losing conference records. They recorded 10-point home wins over 0-8 Vanderbilt and 2-6 Kentucky. The next three games were seven-, eight- and seven-point victories over Texas A&M, Tennessee and Arkansas, respectively. Meanwhile, Minnesota played just one poor game since beating San Jose State, 24--7, on Sept. Drew Bledsoe Womens Jersey. 20, and that was a four-point loss at Illinois a month later. Not only did the Golden Gophers give Ohio State and Wisconsin tough battles, but they knocked off Nebraska on the road and crushed Iowa by 37 points at home. The Golden Gophers already have matched up against quality defenses, so taking on Missouris unit will not be a major deterrent. Furthermore, their run-based offense should neutralize the Tigers fearsome defense, which accumulated 42 sacks. Minnesota has been an excellent team to wager on as an underdog. In fact, Jerry Kills squad is 10-1 ATS in its last 11 games when getting points. The Golden Gophers are getting 4.5 points on New Years Day, so grab them even though an outright victory is not out of the question. Take Minnesota plus 4.5 points in the first of three three-star plays. Oregon and Florida State clash in the first-ever College Football Playoff game. The Ducks have scored 193 points over their last four games and Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota has been on fire with 12 touchdown passes and no interceptions since Nov. 8. Oregons defense also has put it together, allowing just 17 points per game over its last five contests after giving up 28 points per game in its first seven FBS matchups. The Ducks need their defense to stay on course against an explosive Florida State offense, including the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner, Jameis Winston. The sophomore has had an off season, but hes still thrown for 3,559 yards - ninth-best in the FBS. The key to this matchup is not at quarterback or even at running back, where both teams possess tremendous freshmen (Royce Freeman at Oregon and Dalvin Cook at Florida State). The game will be won by the team with the better defense. It is difficult to judge which team that is, especially because Oregon plays in a more offensive-minded conference which skews the numbers in Florida States favor. To wit, the Seminoles have allowed fewer yards, fewer yards per play and fewer yards per carry. However, Oregon has given up fewer yards per pass attempt and, surprisingly, the Ducks have allowed fewer points even with seven of their 13 games against top-50 offenses. Florida State played just three contests against top-50 offenses. Unfortunately for Oregon, its star cornerback, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, is out with a knee injury, which is a crucial blow to the secondary. This should be a very close game, so it is best to go with the underdog. Take Florida State plus nine points. Finally, Washington and Oklahoma State get together in the Cactus Bowl on Jan. 2. The Huskies usually are a tremendous home team with a shaky record on the road. They went 16-3 at home and 5-11 on the road between 2011 and 2013. However, they proved they can win away from home this season, going 4-2 with the only two losses coming against Oregon and Arizona. Running back Dwayne Washington came alive in Washingtons last three games rushing for 383 yards (on just 49 carries) and five touchdowns. Given the fact Oklahoma State allows over four yards per carry, look for Washington to have a field day. The Cowboys also rank 110th nationally versus the pass, which means the Huskies could easily score well into the 40s. It is doubtful the Cowboys will even reach 30 points given they have done so just once in their last seven games. This one should be a double-digit deficit for Oklahoma State, and since the Huskies are giving less than a touchdown, they are the choice in the Cactus Bowl. Take Washington minus six points. TWO-STAR SELECTIONS Take Michigan State +3 (Baylor) and Kansas State +1.5 (UCLA) in the Alamo Bowl. ONE-STAR PLAY Take Boise State +3 (Arizona) in the Fiesta Bowl. ' ' '